


Ten More Sideways Glimpses

by JohnAmendAll



Category: Adam Adamant Lives!, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coastguard, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Police, Alternate Universe - Regency, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Alternate Universe - Space, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Western, Drabble Collection, F/F, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2018-12-26 06:32:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 39
Words: 3,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12053304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JohnAmendAll/pseuds/JohnAmendAll
Summary: Drabbles from ten more alternate universes.





	1. Wild West

**Author's Note:**

> From a Dreamwidth meme: Given a character / pairing, write snippets of ten specified alternate universes for it.
> 
> Prompt from [AllyHR](http://archiveofourown.org/users/AllyHR/): Five / Nyssa / Tegan

"Doc!" Tegan said, once she'd regained enough breath to speak. "We've got to get out of town right now. Sheriff Maxil's looking for you. He thinks you caused the landslide at the Castrovalva mine." 

Doc Smith unhurriedly began to harness his faithful carthorse to the covered wagon. "Of course, he isn't completely wrong."

"You'll come with us, won't you?" Tegan added, turning to Nyssa. 

"My tribe are all dead," Nyssa replied calmly. "I have nowhere else to go." 

"Great!" Tegan embraced her. "And now we'd better go while the going's good. Again." 

"You get used to it," the Doctor said.


	2. Coffee Shop

Nyssa yawned, and gulped down her sextuple Klatchian espresso with extra mocha. "Oh, that's better." 

"You sure you're all right?" Tegan asked. 

"I woke up really tired today. No idea why." 

"I'm worried about her," Tegan said, as Nyssa, faintly vibrating, made her way out of the coffee shop. "I don't think she's sleeping properly." 

"No." Doctor Smith rose unhurriedly to his feet. "She mentioned trouble with a stepmother, didn't she? Her family situation might need looking into." 

Tegan rolled her eyes. "How come you always find something to investigate whenever it's your turn to clean out the espresso machine?"


	3. Shapeshifters

"Did anything happen while I was out?" Nyssa asked. 

"Just the Talbot girl." Tegan gestured at the young woman tied to the chair. "She was pretending to be you, this time." 

Nyssa nodded. "It's a good imitation. How did you spot she wasn't me?" 

The Doctor looked up from his newspaper. "Moles are caused by random mutations. She wouldn't have been able to reconstruct them just from your DNA." 

"We'll have to check your moles. You might be a Changer too," Tegan added. 

"Of course." Nyssa began patiently to disrobe. 

Miss Talbot coughed politely. "Do I have to watch this?"


	4. Fantasy / Fairy Tale

Tegan opened her eyes, and looked around blankly. "Where am I?" 

"This is Panna's tent," Nyssa said. 

"We found you asleep at the standing stone," the Doctor explained. 

"That stone's a dangerous place," Nyssa added. "A gateway to the other world, it's said. Our people keep away from it."

"You don't remember anything?" the Doctor asked. 

"Just dreams." Tegan thought of what the dreams had involved, and decided some hasty bowdlerisation was in order. "Mainly about snakes." 

"Snakes?" Nyssa raised an elegant eyebrow. "You know what Freud would say about that." 

Tegan groaned. "Since when did elves read Freud, anyway?"


	5. ... In SPACE!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since just setting a story in space hardly counts as AU for _Doctor Who_ characters, I set my space AUs in different sci-fi universes.

"Did he ask you what you wanted?" Tegan asked, jerking her thumb at Morden's retreating back. 

Nyssa nodded. "Yes. I told him to come back when he could restore my family and my planet." 

"With someone like that, the trouble is he just might. Only they'd all be zombies or something." 

"Ah, there you are." The Doctor hurried up to them, a parcel in his hand. "Tegan, this is for you. From Mr Morden, I believe." 

"What is it?" Nyssa asked, as Tegan tore the paper off. 

Tegan, brick-red, pulled a device of decidely phallic appearance from the parcel. "Rabbits."


	6. Apocalypse

"I always wondered what it was like on Traken, at the end," Nyssa said, not taking her eyes off the expanding cloud of debris that had recently been the Moon. "Whether everyone stayed calm, or sought comfort in orgies and depravity." 

"Orgies and depravity for me," Tegan said dourly. "All the way." 

"Since it's your world being destroyed, we'd better follow your lead." Nyssa turned to the Doctor. "Won't we?" 

"Oh." The Doctor jumped. "Orgies. Definitely." 

Nyssa kissed him. "You know we'd do the same, if it was your planet." 

"I hope it never comes to that," the Doctor muttered.


	7. Schoolfic

"Has he asked you?" Tegan said, trying to keep the edge of worry out of her voice. 

Nyssa looked up from her biology homework. "No. Has he asked you?" 

"Not yet. We can't go on like this." 

"I've got an idea," Nyssa said hesitantly. 

"If it's like your last one, no thanks. I'm not trying to compete with you." 

"I mean we shouldn't compete at all. We could just forget Peter and go to the prom with each other." 

"But..." Tegan broke off. "Yeah, that could work. Then he'd have to go with Adric." 

"Or Tony Masters." Nyssa grimaced. "Ewwww."


	8. Police/Firefighters/Medical/any other emergency service I can think of

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a Five-era police AU, I can't hope to compete with BKWillis's [Busted!](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/alt.drwho.creative/aazpimWreDk/8UUIoAp5ILEJ), but here's a drabble anyway.

"Oh!" Tegan stared, blushed, looked away and looked back. 

"Do you think the dress won't do?" Nyssa asked. 

"It's fine," Tegan lied, trying to keep her eyes off the rainbow- hued excresence. "Sorry, it's just you look so different out of uniform." 

"Yours is very nice." 

"As long as I don't make any sudden movements. If I do everything pops out." Tegan wriggled her shoulders. "I hate going undercover." 

"Could be a chance for promotion." 

Further conversation was curtailed by the arrival of Inspector Smith. Both constables stared at him in disbelief. 

"Seriously?" Tegan said eventually. "Cricketing whites? In _November?_ "


	9. Supernatural

"Tegan!" Doctor Smith hurried across the graveyard. "Have you seen the Count?" 

Tegan shook her head, looking away from him. "No. Only Nyssa." 

"That isn't Nyssa any more. Remember what Van Turlough said." Smith couldn't suppress a shudder. "It's got to be destroyed." 

"You're too late, Doctor." Tegan turned to face him, her face unnaturally pale, her fangs gleaming in the moonlight. "Nyss got to me first." 

"Join us, Doctor." It was Nyssa's voice, coming from behind him. "There is no pain." Her arms were round him, pinning him, while her lips brushed against his neck. "There is only desire..."


	10. Regency

"Miss Jovanka," Nyssa said. "I have a moral question to put to you." 

"Of course." 

"Given the respective social positions of Doctor Smith and myself... are his attentions to me improper?" 

"Very much so, I fear," her governess replied. "And you are equally at fault for encouraging them." 

"I feared as much." 

"Fortunately, Lord Cranleigh is a discreet man," the Doctor put in. "Provided that we show no undue familiarity at tomorrow's levee, a scandal should be avoided." 

"But until then..." Nyssa raised her head from the pillow, and looked at her two dishevelled bedmates. "Shall we be scandalous again?"


	11. [Adam Adamant / Georgina Jones] Wild West

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [lost_spook](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lost_spook/) prompted for Adam / Georgina. As often happens in this meme, most of the resulting drabbles turned out gen rather than shippy.

The getaway car skidded to a halt, nearly sending Georgie through the front windscreen. She looked across at Melville, but it was plain that his gang had other things on her mind than her. 

Standing in the middle of the street, facing down the car and its occupants, was a figure that she recognised instantly. To her captors, though, he must have seemed like a gunslinger out of legend, with his top hat, formal tailcoat, long boots, and twin revolvers holstered at his waist. 

His hands inches from his pistols, Adam Adamant addressed one word to the bewildered robbers. 

"Draw."


	12. Coffee Shop

"That's it for me, isn't it?" Georgie said, looking tearfully at the shattered fragments of the saucer. "I'll be out on my ear now." 

"Why'd you think that?" Simms asked, looking up from mopping the floor. 

"That's how I got the sack from Sinoda's. One breakage and you're out." 

"Fortunately Mr Adamant is more forgiving." Simms permitted himself a private smile. "Particularly when it's a pretty young lady. 

"The boss always allows a retake,  
"When it's down to an honest mistake.  
"Just between me and you,   
"There's not much he won't do  
"To ensure that a girl's heart won't break."


	13. Shapeshifters

"Sir Henry Thompson." Adam covered the face of the recumbent figure with his handkerchief. "A sad end to a life of public service." 

Georgie paced, her brow knotted in thought. "But if that's Sir Henry, he couldn't have got here after Tuesday night, could he? But he was at the peace conference yesterday! He was on TV and everything!" 

"Precisely. The Sir Henry at the peace conference must be an exact duplicate." 

"That's impossible!" 

"Miss Jones, you have heard me mention the Face?" 

"Of course." 

"Then I suggest you consider what abilities the owner of such a name might possess."


	14. Fantasy / Fairy Tale

The castle was just as it had been in the stories Georgina's grandfather had told her. Slim and unarmoured, she had been able to slip through the hedge of thorns where many a knight had found himself trapped. 

Touching nothing, she'd explored the castle, marvelling at the princess slumped over her spinning wheel, and the lords and servants caught in charmed sleep. 

In the gatehouse, as she left, she caught sight of the captain of the guard. On an impulse, she knelt down and kissed the sleeping figure on the lips. 

And suddenly found how real the stories could be.


	15. ... In SPACE!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Transposing Adam's backstory to space basically gives you the premise of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda (heroic captain betrayed by his closest friend, trapped in a time warp for 300 years, awakes to find the Universe changed beyond recognition). But then I had a better idea: Adam's obviously a hero from an older _kind_ of setting.

"You can't bring the Federation down," Georgie said gloomily. "Not when there's only one of you." 

"Entirely correct, Miss Jones. Therefore it is necessary that there be more than one. You say the Federation caused your grandfather's death. How many people can say something similar?" 

"I still think it's impossible." 

"Perhaps it is. But it is our best chance." He tapped the glittering bracelet on his wrist. "Besides, they are unaware of the Lens's capabilities." 

Georgie gave him a long look. "Do Lensmen have any rules about marrying?" 

"It's encouraged. Why?" 

"Just curious," Georgie said, smiling for the first time.


	16. Schoolfic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did write a drabble for the 'Apocalypse' prompt, but it wanted to grow, so rather than in its place here it's a separate work: [Regrettable Day](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12052350).
> 
> We therefore skip ahead to the next prompt: Schoolfic.

"Gosh, thanks for that," Georgie said, retrieving her scattered textbooks. 

"Since she was wearing a School House tie, I presumed she was a member of that house, and thus subject to my jurisdiction as house prefect," Adam replied. "Though the idea of the weaker sex attending St Austin's still seems unlikely to me." 

"Weaker sex!" Georgie repeated incredulously. "Margo Kane isn't the weaker anything. She's a frightful bully. You'll have to watch your back now." 

"Then she must be taught the error of her ways." Adam shook his head sadly. "The quality of prefects has obviously declined since my day."


	17. Police/Firefighters/Medical/any other emergency service I can think of

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original prompt 8 didn't include coastguards. I nitpicked that it ought to, and now end up using coastguards myself.

"Come off it," Georgie said. "You can't expect to just jump on board the boat and pick up where you left off." 

"I don't deny that your age has made many advances in science and technology," Adam said. "But I doubt that the mindset of the typical smuggling gang has changed overmuch." 

"Well, maybe." Another body in the patrol boat wouldn't hurt, Georgie inwardly admitted. "But I don't think you'll need that cutlass." She stifled a giggle. "And you certainly won't need that pirate hat!" 

"The hat," Adam said, setting the tricorn hat firmly on his head, "is not negotiable."


	18. Supernatural

"Oh," Georgie said. "Well, I suppose it would explain why you wear that gear. And all that stuff about being a hundred years old. And... well, just about everything. But shouldn't you frazzle in sunlight?"

"That is a common misconception," Adam said. "The sun merely weakens my abilities. If I had taken the form of a bat..." 

"Hang on, you can change into a bat?" 

"I can." 

"I want to see you do it. Please?" 

Adam looked pained. "A problem would arise when I returned to my normal form." 

"You mean no clothes?" Georgie grinned. "OK, this I _must_ see."


	19. Regency

At the opening of the door, Adam was instantly on the alert. A surge of relief ran through him as he realised that the young woman on the threshold was none other than Georgina Jones, her muslin dress damp with exertion. 

"Miss Jones," he said, and bowed as much as his bonds would allow. 

Georgina smiled triumphantly. "Might I remind you of our wager?" 

"Very well." Adam sighed. "I accept that I was sadly mistaken in the character of Miss Hardwood." 

"And?" 

"And she is most likely identical with that vile highwayman, the Shadow. Would you now please untie me?"


	20. [Three and Jo] Wild West

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Liadt](http://archiveofourown.org/users/liadt) gave me the choice of the Monk, or Three & Jo. And having thought of how Three and Jo would handle the Apocalypse, I knew what I'd have to write.

"But that railroad's going right through Cheyenne territory!" Jo protested. "Surely the law can't allow Mr Stevens to do that!"

Doc Smith shook his head. "I'm afraid it can." 

"Well, it shouldn't." Jo folded her arms. "Can't you do anything? You saved the town from those lizard people, didn't you?" 

"That wasn't the same. This is politics. Not really my field." 

"If you won't help them, I will!" 

The Doctor watched Jo bustle away, holding her parasol as if prepared to spear Stevens through the heart with it, should the occasion arise. 

"So," he mused. "A fledgeling flies the coop."


	21. Coffee Shop

Jo jumped back as a jet of boiling coffee shot heavenward from the kettle, unerringly striking the electric light in a shower of sparks. She yanked out its power cable, snatched up the fire extinguisher and aimed it at the wildly spinning coffee grinder. The jet of foam hit the whirling armature dead centre, and was splattered in every direction; but to her relief the mechanism shuddered to a halt.

The door flew open and Jo's supervisor surveyed the devastation, of which there was quite a lot. "You hamfisted bun vendor!" 

"I was only trying to help," Jo said meekly.


	22. Shapeshifters

"Doctor?" The Brigadier hurried forward as the Doctor staggered out of the Axons' spaceship, accompanied by a great deal of purple smoke. He took in the tattered figure in the Doctor's arms. "Miss Grant?" 

"I'm OK," Jo said feebly. 

"While I was trying to connect the TARDIS to the core of Axos, I'm afraid Jo took matters into her own hands," the Doctor explained. "It seems to have permanently affected the Axons." 

The Brigadier looked over the Doctor's shoulder. His eyes widened at the dozen dazed Jos stumbling out of the ship. 

"Really, Doctor," he said. "One was quite enough."


	23. Fantasy/Fairy Tale

"Late again," the great wizard Quiquaequod remarked, as his apprentice hurried up the staircase of his tower.

"I'm sorry." Jo divested herself of her travelling cloak. "There were merchants in the market selling these." She held up a triangular length of glass. "They called them 'prisms.'" 

"Frivolous trinkets." 

"It's a funny thing," Jo persisted. "If you hold it up to the light, you get a rainbow. How does that work?" 

Her master exchanged a glance with the stuffed crocodile that hung from the ceiling. "I can see, Jo, that I'm wasting my time trying to make a wizard of you."


	24. ... In SPACE!

By the time they'd reached the quarters assigned to Doctor Smith, Ensign Grant was, to say the least, curious. According to her briefing, the man had violated the highest laws of the Federation, and if he had not been needed in the present emergency, would have been serving a life sentence. And yet, he seemed perfectly reasonable and polite.

"Sir," she said. "If I might ask..." 

"What I did?" He chuckled. "I cured a genetic illness that would have wiped out a civilisation. They," he gestured upwards, "called it breaking the Prime Directive. What would you call it, Ensign Grant?"


	25. Apocalypse

The Third Angel peered into his trumpet, then handed it to the golden- haired seraph at his side.

"Hold this for a moment," he said. "And whatever you do, take care not to blow it." 

"Why?" the seraph asked. "What happens if someone does?" 

"A star called Wormwood falls out of Heaven, and poisons a third part of the waters of the Earth." The angel pulled his celestial screwdriver from his velvet robes. "At least, it will once I've sorted out that valve." 

"Got it." The seraph gave the trumpet a more respectful look. "No blowing. Not even a tootle."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apocalypse chapter 8, verses 10-11, to be precise.


	26. Schoolfic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by tales of Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning goofing around on the jet bikes during the filming of _The Sea Devils_.

"See you at the motocross club this evening?" Jon asked Jo, as they walked out of the school gates.

"I'd love to," Jo said. "But I need to catch up on my revision." 

"That's a pity. Mr Stewart says he's bringing a new Suzuki to test. Maybe we'll get a go on it." 

"I hope it'll work better than that trike thing." Jo giggled. "It was so slow you could walk round the track faster." 

"You'll never know, will you? Unless you come this evening." 

Jo succumbed to temptation. "OK, I'll come. Who needs a General Science A level, anyway?"


	27. Police/Firefighters/Medical/any other emergency service I can think of

"Looks like he got away, sir," Detective Constable Grant said, shining her torch around the cellar that had, until recently, been Victor Magister's base of operations.

"I wouldn't expect anything less of him. Any sign of the painting he stole?" 

"Um..." Grant was peering into a cupboard. "Sir, I think you'd better see these." 

The Inspector joined her. Six flawless copies of Van Klomp's Fallen Madonna, each bearing a small label reading THIS IS A FAKE, smiled serenely back at him. 

"Sometimes, Grant, I think he does this just to annoy me." 

Jo concealed a smile. "Can't think why, sir."


	28. Supernatural

"Jo!" The Doctor turned as a cloud of golden smoke coalesced into humanoid form beside him. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be keeping King Peladon busy."

"It's all right," Jo said. "I tried distracting him, but he didn't want to play Ludo or Scrabble, and I don't know Bezique. So I just bonked him on the head and tied him up." She looked at his expression. "Wasn't that right?" 

"It's not what I was expecting you to do." The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "I thought you'd trained as a succubus?" 

"I didn't say I passed," Jo admitted.


	29. Regency

The Doctor looked up as the Brigadier strode into the his improvised laboratory.

"Something the matter?" he asked. 

"Major Rand's had word from Kennalu. Apparently young people are being carried off by women with leopards' heads." 

"I see." The Doctor rubbed his neck. "Jo, you'd better pack the usual equipment. We'll head over there and see what we can do." 

"Sonic disruptor," Miss Grant began, writing on an ivory notelet. "And lemons for the batteries, of course..." 

Brigadier Arthur Wellesley shook his head. "I don't know what you two do to the enemy, but there are times you terrify me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Duke of Wellington was a Brigadier from 1801-2, which is not, strictly speaking, the Regency. But it should be close enough.


	30. [Zoë / Isobel] Wild West

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No-one asked me for a Zoë / Isobel drabble set, but I wrote one for my own amusement.

"You're very quiet, Zoë," Jamie said, as the train rattled its way out of Toby's Gulch. 

Zoë looked up from her book. "I think I'm missing Isobel," she said. "I knew we wouldn't stay, once we'd dealt with Mr Vaughn and his gang of Klansmen. But it's a pity we couldn't." 

"Well, you'll not soon forget her." 

Zoë returned to her book, and let her eyes rest on the photograph that Isobel had pressed into her hand at their parting. Her own image, and Isobel's, looked back at her, wearing nothing but cheerful smiles.

 _No danger of that_ , she decided.


	31. Coffee Shop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've sort of done this already: [Jamie's Angels in: Wake Up And Smell The Coffee](http://archiveofourown.org/works/549327/chapters/978565). But here's a snippet anyway.

"What's up?" Isobel asked. 

Blinking back tears, Zoë held out a letter. "My PhD application's been accepted." 

"But that's good news, isn't it?" 

"It means I'll have to go to Cambridge. I won't be able to work in the coffee shop any more. I'll miss you so much..." 

Isobel pulled her into what, she told herself firmly, was a purely friendly hug. "I know, I'll miss you too," she began. 

And then they were kissing in a manner that certainly wasn't pure or just friendly. 

"Oh, lord," Isobel moaned, as she unbuttoned Zoë's blouse. Things were about to get _complicated_.


	32. Shapeshifters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I recall correctly, the Boux were created by Brian Aldiss.

"Have you had boyfriends?" Isobel asked. "I'm open minded, I won't be upset if you say yes." 

"Sort of," Zoë replied. "He was an alien, really. A Boux called Altmar." 

"Boux?" 

"They can shapeshift. Imagine going to bed with some actor you've always fantasised about. The problem is they tend to lose the shape they're holding at the worst possible moment." 

"Sounds like every boyfriend I've ever had," Isobel said. "Why did you stay with him, then?" 

"Well, I liked the way he played the banjo." 

"OK," Isobel said. "I know I said I'm open minded, but there are _limits_."


	33. Fantasy / Fairy Tale

The palace librarian looked up in surprise. "Your Highness!" 

"Got it in one." Princess Isobel tapped her foot impatiently. "These ice zombies to the north. Do any of these scrolls say what kills them?" 

"I know where to start looking." 

"Then start." 

"But, your Highness—" 

"My uncle says if some meatheaded prince saunters up and kills them he gets half the kingdom and my hand in marriage. I don't see why I shouldn't have a go myself." 

"I'll look under 098, forbidden knowledge." The librarian suddenly smiled. "If I help you, do I get to marry you?" 

Isobel nodded. "Definitely."


	34. ... In SPACE!

Yawning, Zoë struggled out of nightmares to realise she'd fallen asleep at her desk in the stardome. And someone had put their hands over her eyes. 

"Guess who?" 

The voice was familiar, but not one she could recall hearing in waking life. 

"Hey, it's me!" The hands were withdrawn, her chair was spun round, and she was looking up at Isobel. "Surprise!" 

"You... you can't be real." Zoë pinched herself, to no avail. "You're a dream." 

Isobel pulled Zoë out of her chair. "Real enough for you?" 

"But I've never..."

"Don't worry." Isobel kissed her. "You can start right now."


	35. Apocalypse

"We're not going to get out of this, are we?" Isobel said, looking at the descending cloud of volcanic ash. 

Zoë shook her head. "I know we're not. I was at a museum in the future, and there were plaster casts of people buried in the ash." She unzipped her catsuit. "The info panel called us 'The Lovers.' You can guess the pose." 

"Now that's a way to go," Isobel said. "Live fast, die young, leave a couple of good looking corpses." She flung her blouse to one side. "Might be a bit awkward explaining at the Pearly Gates, though."


	36. Schoolfic

Isobel crawled into the tent, glad enough to get out of the rain and wind that she didn't even care she was sharing with the class swot. 

"My best jeans," she moaned, struggling out of the muddy, waterlogged denim. 

"Don't you remember Mr Benton said jeans were a bad idea?" the swot reminded her. 

"Don't start that again." Isobel shivered. "I'm soaking wet and frozen stiff." 

"We could zip our sleeping bags together and share body heat," Zoë suggested. 

Isobel stared at Zoë, struggling with the mental images that those words had provoked. 

"I... I'd like that," she said, eventually.


	37. Police/Firefighters/Medical/any other emergency service I can think of

"Oh, hello." Zoë looked up from her workbench as Isobel breezed into the lab. "If you're asking about that body hauled out of the canal, I'm still writing up my report on the stomach contents. But unofficially, it was probably strychnine." 

Isobel shook her head. "When was the last time you went to a party?" 

"Why do you ask?" 

"Thought so. You're overdue to go to one, I've got an invite for two to Georgie's engagement bash, and as of five minutes ago we're both off duty." She took Zoë by the hand. "That report will just have to wait."


	38. Supernatural

"I can feel it again," Isobel said, looking nervously around the foyer of the abandoned cinema. "Like goose pimples." 

Zoë shook her head. "I can't feel anything." She looked down at the collection of electronic devices they'd assembled. "And there's nothing on any of the instruments." 

"You said the instruments were so primitive they couldn't even tell what day it was." 

"Well, they can't." Zoë gave the tape recorder a defiant poke. "And I don't believe in ghosts, anyway." 

"I can feel the ghosts coming." Isobel shivered again. "Any moment now you can ask them if they believe in _you_."


	39. Regency

"Are you at all interested in private theatricals, Miss Heriot?" Miss Watkins asked, the two having left the gentlemen and retired to the withdrawing room. "I love them." 

Zoë's face lit up. "They sound like fun." Her smile faded. "But if I am to be a governess, I could never participate in one. My reputation would never stand it." 

"Nonsense! Nobody will care in the slightest." Isobel leaned forward eagerly. "I am to be in _Lovers' Vows_ this very month. If you can help me learn my lines, I shall be forever in your debt." 

"Then how can I refuse?"


End file.
